Ugandan banks race to tighten cyber defences after Shs72b fraud hit

KAMPALA — Uganda’s banking industry is stepping up efforts to combat cybercrime after financial institutions lost more than Shs72.1 billion to fraud in 2024, while hundreds of cybercrime cases remain unresolved amid rapid growth in digital financial transactions.

The Uganda Bankers Association (UBA), working with Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Uganda, last week brought together commercial banks, payment service providers, regulators, law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and development partners to validate findings of what has been described as the country’s most comprehensive assessment of cyber and fraud risks in the financial sector.

The study, conducted by Milima Security, assessed 45 financial institutions across different regulatory categories and paints a picture of a sector under increasing pressure from sophisticated cyber criminals.

According to the assessment, Uganda’s financial system recorded Shs72.1 billion in fraud-related losses in 2024, while 887 cybercrime cases remain stuck within the detection-to-justice pipeline, raising concerns over enforcement and prosecution.

The findings also come as digital financial services continue to expand, with the country processing more than 1.2 billion mobile money transactions, making electronic payment platforms an increasingly attractive target for fraudsters.

Speaking at the workshop, Uganda Bankers Association Executive Director Wilbrod Humphreys Owor said cyber fraud had evolved into an industry-wide challenge that no single institution could tackle alone.

“Recognising that no single institution can address these challenges alone, the Uganda Bankers Association and our partners established the Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Consortium to promote collaboration, intelligence sharing, coordinated response and sector-wide capacity to prevent and combat financial fraud jointly,” Mr Owor said.

The consortium brings together banks, payment service providers, regulators and security agencies to strengthen information sharing and improve coordinated responses to cyber threats.

Industry players say the rapid adoption of digital banking, mobile money and electronic payments has increased convenience for consumers but also widened the attack surface for cyber criminals targeting financial institutions and their customers.

The assessment forms part of the banking sector’s broader Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC) project and supports the industry’s Anti-Fraud and Threat Management Strategy as well as government’s Ten-Fold Growth Strategy, which places digital financial services at the centre of economic transformation.

Stakeholders at the meeting said strengthening cyber resilience, improving intelligence sharing and speeding up investigation and prosecution of cybercrime cases will be critical to sustaining confidence in Uganda’s rapidly growing digital financial ecosystem.